hancock shaker village

so several weeks ago we spent a few days in Massachusetts, which you may remember. i've been a huge blogging slacker lately, and then we were out of electricity for a few days due to hurricane irene. so let's just blame it on that, shall we? :-)

the hancock shaker village was incredible. although i can't necessarily condone all of their beliefs (celibacy, no thanks), there is much i can agree with (racial and gender equality, simplicity).

i am a huge fan of the shaker pegs that go all the way around most of their rooms.

the picture above is a rendition of what they think the colors were as originally painted. also, one of my favorite colors.

and inside, they made boxes (which i had to buy of course)


they were avid canners and preservers of food.


the round barn building.


and the animals. the pigs were adorable, notice the one still laying there, sleeping. dave said that is me.






even the floor of the icehouse was cool.






everything was beautiful.

shupp's grove

i always find great things at shupp's grove flea market. warning, a ridiculous song plans when you click on that link, but it's worth it ;-)

here's what i purchased: 8 vintage frosted glasses (which i was going to sell, but decided to keep), a vintage necklace, a vintage fish belt buckle thing, a plant in a copper sugar canister, vintage trims, and sweet vintage pearl, shell and bakelite buttons.




i think i spent around $60 for ALL that stuff. the most expensive things were the buttons, which i could have easily spent hundreds on. a seller is there that literally has thousands of the most gorgeous vintage buttons you'll ever see.

berkshires

dave and i went to the berkshires last week for a couple days for a little rest and relaxation. it was absolutely wonderful! i have to thank travelzoo for having a great deal that i snagged in the spring. i wouldn't have even thought of going there if i didn't see it on travelzoo.

the drive there was actually pretty easy. PA->NJ->NY->CT->MA. sounds like a lot of states, but the east coast is pretty compact, so it didn't take long at all (5 hours including a stop for lunch at an organic farm stand that had delicious cheeseburgers).

after a tiny hiccup with a bridge being out, and no cell service, i somehow navigated us to our destination. the old inn on the green. i can't say enough about this place, it was amazing.

the main building (above) was the restaurant and had guest rooms. all of the dining rooms were lit only by candlelight, so the evening dinners were romantic.

we ate breakfast on the back screened in porch. while eating our amazingly delicious scones, muffins, yogurt, granola, fresh fruit, juice and coffee, we watched birds at the bird feeder, and also saw a bunny and a chipmunk.


our room was huge and perfect.



and they had a pool, which i wasn't even aware of before we got there. i'm really glad i decided to pack swimsuits just in case.

we went for a very short hike on the Appalachian trail. we didn't have water and the way we started was straight up-hill so i made us turn around after like 10 min. we then went to a store to get some H2O and then found another, much less strenuous hiking path at fountain pond state park.


we also went to the hancock shaker village, which was incredible so it deserves it's own post.

what new place have you gone or do you have planned for this summer?

baby iva

dave and i are going to have another niece soon! i made her this quilt, i hope she loves it.

garden

the squash has taken over the garden at this point, but we did harvest a couple of peppers a few weeks ago. green peppers and jalapenos.